You’re pregnant……. congratulations!

Hopefully you’ve had a good pregnancy and are feeling like a goddess?? No?! Well you aren’t alone if you’re struggling through it; sickness, tiredness and the baby sapping all your energy can often make it difficult to feel like you’re blooming.

And it’s totally normal to swing between feeling amazing and feeling awful (that will probably continue throughout your journey into motherhood!)

But at some point during your pregnancy, your attention will turn to the fact that you actually need to give birth. You begin to wonder how on earth a baby is going to come out of your vagina, and how you will cope with the excruciating pain that everyone is always telling you about.

Me & my first hypnobaby

Hypnobirthing

Your friends and family have probably taken great pleasure in telling you their horror stories about birth and just how awful it is, how out of control they felt. And you’ve watched TV shows like One Born Every Minute where most of the women lie on their back, screaming throughout their entire labour & swearing at their birth partner for getting them into this mess.

But you know it has to be done, and plenty of women go on to have more babies…..so it can’t be that bad, can it?

I was in your position when I was pregnant with my first child in 2013. I didn’t feel like I was good at coping with pain & I hate feeling out of control. I wanted to give myself the best possible chance of giving birth naturally and after spending hour upon hour on various baby forums and Google, I came across hypnobirthing. I started to read all these positive stories and found some really beautiful births to watch on YouTube. I was more than intrigued by the whole thing and decided it was definitely something I needed to know more about.

If it works for me, it can work for anyone!

I took a private course and was totally hooked. You can read all about how I used the techniques to birth both of my babies- I couldn’t imagine giving birth without it. Since the birth of my first baby, I have made it my mission to try and reach as many women as I can to tell them that there is a different way to prepare for birth.

Hypno-what?!You may have heard of hypnobirthing before and been put off by the name. It all sounds a bit ‘out there’ and not your cup of tea?But in reality, the hypno part of the course is just learning how to help your body relax really deeply, so that you are able to allow your body to do what it needs to in order to birth your baby.

There is nothing ‘hippy dippy’ or ‘woo woo’ about it. It is just about understanding how your body works during labour. And learning ways to cope with it. Simple!

Allowing your body to practice relaxation on a regular basis should be a big part of your birth preparation.

My first hypnobaby!

Let’s keep it real

Hypnobirthing isn’t a magic wand. I am not promising you a pain free birth, or a ‘natural’ birth. You may not spend the whole birth in a zen-like state and then breathe your baby out in silence. Birth can be unpredictable, but what my course teaches you is how you can stay in complete control no matter what happens.

What my clients are saying

Pregnancy Yoga

Align your body for a smoother labour

My weekly pregnancy yoga class is suitable from 14 weeks of pregnancy onwards and the sessions are really supportive, nuturing and social. You will have the chance to share with other mums-to-be who may be going through the same things as you. You'll learn how yoga can alleviate many common pregnancy ailments, and understand which positions you can use for a smoother labour and birth. And each week, we spend some time at the end of the class enjoying a really lovely relaxation.

You will begin to understand how important your posture and alignment is to help your baby get into the best position for a smoother labour, and you'll get tips on how to incorporate good posture and alignment into your daily life.

If you suffer from SPD or Pelvic Girdle Pain, pelvic alignment is even more important, and I will adapt all our poses to enable you to join in the class - you will find so much benefit in coming on a weekly basis and will learn ways to help minimise your pain throughout the rest of your pregnancy.

So give yourself a chance to switch off from all the stresses and strains of your busy life and focus 100% on you and your baby.

What my clients are saying

"It was a very calm experience and helped along by the breathing we have done in our sessions. The birth positions we did on Monday were AMAZING and I delivered him in the squat position which helped him along the final hurdle.""Thank you so much Jenny for your advice and support. I'll miss coming to the sessions."Rebecca, attended my Birthlight pregnancy yoga sessions.

"One of the midwives said 'you're going to breathe this baby out' and I did!" "Thank you so much for your help, I wasn't scared"Nicola, had private Birthlight yoga sessions

Learn techniques to help you through your pregnancy and birth, make friends and relax :)

For post birth:

New mums yoga and social group

If you have recently given birth and are ready to leave the house and meet other new mums in your situation then come and join my new mums yoga and social group.

Unlike all those other classes you have seen, this one is all about you! You are the most important person and have you heard that saying "you can't pour from an empty cup?" well this group will be your chance to refill your cup once a week. Make friends, have a laugh, get support and realise everyone is finding motherhood just as tough as you!

Traumatic Birth Recovery

If you have had a previous traumatic birth experience and would like to be free from the symptoms so you can move on, then this effective technique will help you. In just 3 sessions, the majority of people report a significant reduction or complete elimination of PTSD symptoms.

Coming soon - a brand new venue for all Cardiff parents and parents to be.

Exciting news! I am opening up a new venue. It will be the first of it's kind in Cardiff. The place to go for support, advice, to make new friends and bond over the ups and downs of pregnancy and motherhood. Proabably the greatest challenge any of us will face, a roller coaster journey with no hand book to help us! I am looking for people who share the same mission as me - to support women on their journey through pregnancy, birth and motherhood so if you are interested in hiring the space for classes, events etc let me know. It will affordable, well equipped, easy to get to but most of all a really supportive and nurturing environment.